MIAMI – The schedule makers gave the Miami Heat a break the first two weeks of the season. After opening with one game on the road, the Heat returned to AmericanAirlines Arena for their longest home stand of the season, six games.

But Miami is wasting the opportunity.

The Heat lost their second consecutive game, dropping a 96-90 decision to the Boston Celtics on Saturday. Miami (2-3) is 2-2 on the home stand with games remaining against Minnesota and Chicago.

The Heat fell behind at the 10-minute mark of the second quarter and did not lead the rest of the way.

Miami got within three points on a Kelly Olynyk layup with 7½ minutes to play in the game but once again went cold, going without a field goal for 2:25. The Heat then cut the deficit to two but could not overtake the Celtics (4-2).

“We need to bounce back,” said guard Goran Dragic, who led Miami with 22 points. “We don’t want to have a season like last year.”

The Heat started 11-30 last year and missed the playoff on a tiebreaker.

Josh Richardson and James Johnson each added 16 points for the Heat. Boston’s Kyrie Irving led all scorers with 24.

The Heat were without center Hassan Whiteside, who missed his fourth consecutive game after bruising a bone in his left knee in the season opener.

Here are our five takeaways:

Too many turnovers: The Heat entered the game tied for the seventh-fewest turnovers with 13.8 per game, with opponents averaging 16.5 point off those giveaways. Miami finished with 19 turnovers that led to 21 Boston points. Miami almost reached its average in the first half with 11 turnovers that the Celtics converted to 15 points. The Heat were loose with the ball and unselfish to a fault at times during the game, turning down open shots and forcing the pass, hoping for something better. The final turnover was the most costly. The Heat pulled to within four points when Richardson lost the ball with 1:19 to play. Irving then buried a 3-pointer to give Boston a seven-point lead with 57 seconds to play.

“What you had was a throwback possession game,” coach Erik Spoelstra said. “Neither team was getting great looks. In this new modern NBA, that’s a game in the 80s. When you have a game like that, those turnovers, the throwaway possessions, really crush you. That’s where the game was. Everything else was how you expect it to be against a very good team.”

Defense tightens, offense goes cold: The Heat were much better defensively, holding the Celtics to 42.0 percent shooting (34-of-81), including 31.6 percent in the fourth quarter, and 44 points in the paint. Miami entered the game allowing 108.5 points per game (22nd in the league) and 50.0 points in the paint (27th). This time it was the offense that bogged down, especially in the third quarter and early in the fourth. Miami closed shooting 43.0 percent.

Third-quarter blues: The Heat were in the game at halftime, trailing 47-45 but this game turned in the third quarter. The Celtics built an 11-point lead as the Heat shot 7-of-19 and continued to give away the ball with four turnovers. And as the offense bogged down, the Heat started settling for 3-pointers, launching 11 in the quarter, making just three.

“We just got to figure it out, we got to get guys in the right spot, communicate and get everybody together,” said Justise Winslow, who led Miami with 12 rebounds. “Too many times there were six, seven seconds left in the 24-second clock and all we had left was a pick and roll. We have to get into more actions earlier.”

Olynyk faces former team: The Heat’s first phone call after learning Gordon Hayward was signing with Boston was to former Celtics big man, Kelly Olynyk, who had been released by the Celtics to make room for Hayward. The two quickly agreed to a contract (four years, $50 million) and the Heat had their biggest offseason addition. Olynyk faced his former team for the first time Saturday and made an immediate impact. Within 23 seconds of entering the game, he had a steal and a 3-pointer. Olynyk finished with 14 points, eight rebounds and three blocks. Olynyk helped the Heat get back into the game in the fourth quarter with six early points.

Bruised backcourt: Dion Waiters and Dragic are dealing with early season bumps, bruises and twists. Dragic had his moments in the first half but had a rough start to the second half and appeared frustrated on the bench. But he wasn’t the only one, as Miami went from a two-point deficit at the half to digging an 11-point hole in the third. Dragic returned and was solid in the fourth quarter. Waiters, though, did not play the final 12 minutes after a rough night. He finished with five points in 24 minutes and shot 2-of-8. Most of those misses coming at the rim as he continues to take the ball to the basket in traffic. The shooting guard continues to deal with a problematic left ankle he sprained more than six months ago, but to his credit has not used the injury as an excuse.

Spoelstra said Waiters absence in the fourth quarter was not a health issue.

“We were looking for anything to stem the tide,” he said. “The group we had in there crawled all the way back. We wanted to keep on going and find a way to win. We just couldn’t do that.”

New-look Celtics: The Celtics did not stand pat with the roster that had the best record in the Eastern Conference last season and lost to the Cavaliers in the conference finals. Boston returns just four players, with several departing to make room for Hayward’s four-year, $128 million deal and others being shipped to Cleveland in the Irving trade. The Heat did a good job containing Irving early but were hurt by guard Marcus Smart, who had 12 of his 16 points in the first half . Irving caught fire in the third quarter and finished 10-of-23 from the floor. Rookie Jayson Tatum had 20 points on 6-of-9 shooting.

“He’s a great closer,” Spoelstra said of Irving. “His handle allows him to get where he wants to get. His range, you have to extend your defense.”